Wisconsin's system of open primaries means voters do not have to share a political party's affiliation to vote in its primary. So, there's nothing to stop Republicans from voting in a Democratic recall primary — and from writing in Walker's name.

If this effort were successful, it's unclear what the effect would be on the general recall election. The Government Accounability Board was contacted Friday, but didn't immediately provide an answer....

When asked about his initial impression of the write-in campaign, Wisconsin Democratic Party Spokesman Graeme Zielinksi said it was, “Surprise, then laughter.” Zielinski said the effort has no chance of succeeding.

“Republicans seem frightened by democracy and the will of the people and, given what Scott Walker has done to ruin Wisconsin, they should be,” Zielinski said.

Ha ha. I'm laughing too!

ADDED: I'm working on a parody "I'm My Own Recall Opponent," to the tune of "I'm My Own Grandpa." ("I'm My Own Grandpa" lyrics here.)

AND: I like the diagrammed version:

(The voice there is Ray Stevens. The first version, above, was Grandpa Jones. The second one... ?)

“Republicans seem frightened by democracy and the will of the people and, given what Scott Walker has done to ruin Wisconsin, they should be,”

He just might piss off enough people to make it a reality.

Mr. Zielinski obviously shares his "uncle's" affinity for making a complete wreck of a situation: [after a car crashes into a wall during a crash test] "God, I love that." Ray Zalinsky, in the movie Tommy Boy

In the event of a Dem primary between Falk and Barrett, I will vote for Kathleen Falk.

I can't tell how I know this, but I know it - the internal campaign polling shows Walker CRUSHING Falk. Walker even carries parts of Dane County; the rural areas where voters are fed up with double-digit annual property tax increases.

I don't understand the process here. Is there an official Democratic primary? If so, will other political parties also get to nominate someone to run in the recall election? Or will there only be one candidate who will get to run against Walker, who this "primary" is going to determine?

Definitely Walker should encourage and organize the write in campaign because it will save Wisconsin a lot of money if Walker wins. The dem vote will be split many ways. The GOP vote has an obvious single candidate, Walker. Since the recall campaign is already an abuse of the election process, sabotaging the recall process is a good thing that will discourage future such abuses.

Since the recall campaign is already an abuse of the election process, sabotaging the recall process is a good thing that will discourage future such abuses.

I disagree, as much as I disagree with the concept of recall elections. If a recall is in the state's legal code and it's being proceeded under that umbrella, then it is what it is and you have to deal with it. Going down the "by any means necessary" route makes you no better than them.

Win again and legally remove the language that allows recalls when you can.

The other day we saw a post about how Obama isn't faring so well in critical swing states. I wonder what the national Democrat leaders are thinking about their WI counterparts right now? Something along the lines that there isn't a bus big enough to throw them all under? Betcha they won't mind Walker losing to a "weak" candidate so that they can minimize and rationalize away the implications of a Walker victory.

Wow 884 people on facebook. Of course we know that it's enough to make the Penquin wet it's pants...but this a just a joke.

That said, if there is a closely contested Democratic primary, then the GOP will almost certainly decide who Walker's opponent will be. Open primaries will allow Walker supporters to vote in the Democratic primary.

Your link requires people to register for the site in order to view the article. That said, I'm aware of the boo-birds/yellers...and have also scolded 'em for doing so.

Are you aware of the spitters, the punchers, the camera-destroyers, the petition vandalizers, the rock-throwers, the stalkers who call Recall Supporters at home, and the people who were passing around petitions they had no intentions of actually turning in?

If are aware of what those Walker supporters were doing, then have you had anything at all to say about their tactics and methods?

The complaint also shows an email Walker himself sent in May 2010 in reaction to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporting that Wink was apparently doing partisan political work while working for the county.

“We cannot afford another story like this one,” Walker says in the email he sent Russell. “No one can give them any reason to do another story. That means no laptops, no websites, no time away during the work day, etc.”

I don't think you understand what nullify means. There is orderly succession by regularly held elections and there is this hissy-fit recall-turd that Union bosses have foisted upon the citizens of Wisconsin. Sure you can get signatures, because people are kind enough to sign, often only because someone asks them to. I know. I've worked in elections.

Explain this to me Penguin. If there is no rule AGAINST writing in Walker's name, and the voters that choose to write him in are legal voters in WI, then what is the harm?

These citizens who wish to write in Scott Walker are doing nothing morally or legally wrong. It may be a joke, it may not be. But it's part of the process when you open up a can of worms. And this recall is a big, writhing can of worms.

Democrats in Washington see the flakes in Madison and how they are using up precious funding to run this stupid recall election, which they will lose. And in the end all it will do is serve to drain the Union coffers (YAY!) and weaken confidence in the State legislators who (1) fled the state to avoid doing their jobs but (2) want you to put more of their friends back into the Statehouse.

That serves one ultimate outcome. Walker is strengthened and has a "vote of confidence" from the public and may even increase Republican representation in the State legislature come November.

Are you aware of the spitters, the punchers, the camera-destroyers, the petition vandalizers, the rock-throwers, the stalkers who call Recall Supporters at home, and the people who were passing around petitions they had no intentions of actually turning in?

No, in fact, why don't provide us a link to all these nasty incidents.

As for the Walker write-in, it's my understanding that any attempts to do this would be unsuccessful under Wisconsin's election laws, because a candidate may not appear on the ballot for as a candidate for both parties for the same office.

Even if a campaign to write-in Walker as the Democratic nominee was successful, the law says that if a candidate is already the nominee of one party for an office, and is also nominated by write-in votes at the primary election to the same office as the candidate of a different party, the candidate does not have a choice, but shall be placed on the ballot for the election under the office and party for which the individual was already a candidate.

...oh yeah, and WI is a swing state that will be swinging one way or the other after the recall. I'm sure the interests of Garage and Penguin seem important in context of the recall, but to Obama's reelection team all they see is a swing state in chaos.

Purplepenguin wrote:Are you aware of the spitters, the punchers, the camera-destroyers, the petition vandalizers, the rock-throwers, the stalkers who call Recall Supporters at home, and the people who were passing around petitions they had no intentions of actually turning in?

Writing in Walkers name is perfectly legal. As far as who is better, the GOP or dems, who knows? There are a lot of dumb asses and crooks on both sides. The GOP is closer to my political philosophy so I side with with the GOP.

In general the GOP needs to toughen up (the GOP has a surplus of country club pussies) and fight fire with fire.

I'm using it the same way the folks who are saying that this recall election will nullify the previous election are using it.

If there is no rule AGAINST writing in Walker's name, and the voters that choose to write him in are legal voters in WI, then what is the harm?

Just 'cause there ain't a rule against it doesn't mean it ain't proper.

It ain't no different than having a supporter launch the recall effort early so Walker could start fundraising...nor than having a Republican run as a Democrat in a primary. They are all intended to subvert the spirit of the law, if not the actual law itself.

I ain't sure if write-ins are allowed in a Wisconsin primary. (I know that was an issue when some of the Republicans were trying to get on the VA primary ballot). Sure wish Masel was still around...he'd know the answer right off the top of his head.

Either way, this is yet another reason why the state needs to stop having primary elections, and instead make each party pay for their own nominating process.

No, in fact, why don't provide us a link to all these nasty incidents.

I've listed several in the past, but Dane101 has done a decent round-up of incidents that have occurred with both Walker and Recall supporters:

Here you're referring to the Democrat senators fleeing the state in order to buy their union buddies time, correct?

While I personally don't beleive that parliamentary procedures like quorum breaks and filibustering are improper (tho, I would rather see filibusterers having to actually speak for their time), I can understand why some folks would view those procedures as abusive.

Is there even a purpose for having a quorum? Do you beleive we should do away with the rules/laws in regards to the State House having a certain quorum in order to conduct business?

PS - short link for the broken one I posted earlier: http://tinyurl.com/6te9rsr

ScottM--the main qualifications for serving on the Memphis city council are either be indicted or have served hard time--Although I do have to say our current Mayor, AC Wharton is doing a great job--regretably he has to deal with an excrable city council.

"Ann Althouse said..."Wow 884 people on facebook. Of course we know that it's enough to make the Penquin wet it's pants...but this a just a joke."

Speaking of jokes... remember that time people voted for Jesse Ventura for Governor of Minnesota? Ha ha. That was hilarious."

This is apples and oranges. Ventura was not written in to be a candidate against himself. In fact, he was not a write in candidate at all. He was on the ballot as a third party candidate in a three way race.

"purplepenquin said...Here you're referring to the Democrat senators fleeing the state in order to buy their union buddies time, correct?

While I personally don't beleive that parliamentary procedures like quorum breaks and filibustering are improper (tho, I would rather see filibusterers having to actually speak for their time), I can understand why some folks would view those procedures as abusive.

Is there even a purpose for having a quorum? Do you beleive we should do away with the rules/laws in regards to the State House having a certain quorum in order to conduct business?

More Penguin bullshit. The fleebaggers were not filibustering. A filibuster is an agreed upon process by a political body. What the fleebaggers did was not an agreed upon process. And a quorum is meant to insure that a sufficient percentage of those involved in a process must be involved...it's a protection. Again, the fleebagger were not precluded from the vote in question.

I didn't say that the Dems in WI were filibustering...are you intentionally building a strawman or did you simply not read what was actually written and instead hurriedly responded after only briefly skimming what I wrote?

Or was there another reason why you're making up crap about me? Please clarify.

What the fleebaggers did was not an agreed upon process.

I ain't sure what you mean by this...are you claiming that there aren't actual rules/procedures in regards to quorums for the Wisconsin Legislature?

And garage, anyone potentially involved with the defense side of a criminal case, who agrees to speak with prosecutors, especially politically-motivated prosecutors like Chisholm, without their own attorney(s) present, is an idiot, and Scott Walker is not an idiot.

I don't see how Walker wriggles out of it. He knew his office was being used for fundraising - he facilitated it. Watch all his former aids squeal. Damn it. Why is every "new hope" from the GOP end up a criminal?

PetuniaIt's not a voluntary decision to speak with the DA's prosecutors as far as I know. It's either you agree to talk, or you agree to show up and talk with an escort in handcuffs. The lawyers he hired aren't people you hire for a broken headlight.

What a news day: Quadruple homicide in De Pere, tanker explodes in Whitewater, several buildings on fire, Guv to be speaking with prosecutors, and Assemblyman admits packing heat on the floor.

Didn't see that. Yup, that's wrong. When a cop gives a lawful order, you best be following it. And don't beat up on cops either, that's just plain wrong.

You're a partisan hack playing the "I criticize both sides" routine.

Which is laughable.

WTH? It sure sounds like you're projecting yourself on others. 'cause I truly have had plenty o' bad to say about both Democrats and Republicans.

What is really interesting is that you can't even acknowledge, let alone criticize, anything improper that has been done by Walker Supporters...yet you're all over my ass 'cause I haven't said something about each&every incident that a Recall Supporter has done. Your silence on that, while screaming at me, speaks volumes.

What is truly laughable is that I thought you were sincere in wanting to have a good faith convo. I provided links when you requested them and I addressed the questions you asked of me. I've treated you...and others...with politeness and respect, but you respond by making up crap about me.

You truly seem more interested in trolling than talking, and that is pretty sad...

Why does Jay feel compelled to type his nickname at the end of his comments? Doesn't he realize that we can simply look at the profile name at the beginning of his post if we happen to forget who's responsible for the mind-numbing tedium of his tirades?

If one is ordered to appear does the 5th Amendment mean they don't have to actually appear if they don't want to, or are they required to show up and then invoke the 5th whenever they are asked a question?

I'm not sure how those things work, nor am I sure how to word that for a Google-search...

Garage, the article in your link clearly quotes the governor as saying he is meeting with the DA VOLUNTARILY and at his OWN behest.

Of course, we all know that the governor lies about everything...(sarcasm).

What do you want Walker to do? He has been subjected to attacks ever since he took office, and is the subject of a two-year-long politically-motivated investigation run by the Democrat DA of the county with one of the highest violent crime rates in the state, which for some reason doesn't seem to be a priority with his office. Why shouldn't Walker hire good lawyers when he goes into the lion's den?

LemThat "as many as 15%" equals 11 signatures. If they are dupes, they will get tossed.

Garage, the article in your link clearly quotes the governor as saying he is meeting with the DA VOLUNTARILY and at his OWN behest.

Yea I know that's what Walker's campaign has said. That doesn't mean it's true. He has declined recently to say whether he has been previously contacted by prosecutors. But in January he flatly said he wasn't.

And why is his campaign that is doing all the talking and not from the Governors Office?

Like I said before, you can't even acknowledge that anything improper has been done by Walker Supporters yet you're all over my butt because I didn't say something right away about each&every incident that you personally had in mind.

I'm thinking of a word that describes you...starts with an "H", ends with "e" and there is "ypocrit" in the middle.

The True the Vote people have about 12000 volunteers. For 1 million names, that's about 85 names apiece. Should each name be entered twice, that's 170 names per volunteer. Any takers on betting this could be done before kick off?

Ann, while I can not recall any race with two identically named candidates, there was a famous case of two brothers opposing each other. Alf and Bob Taylor faced each other in the 1886 Tennessee governor's race, better known as "The War of the Roses".

Ultimately, both would serve as Governor. According to family legend, the race was held in good humor. Both brothers were pranksters, and would occasionally show up claiming to be the other and give a bad speech.

While they were on opposing sides, they could disagree without being disagreeable, a lost art these days.

I would love to see that catch fire because it would send the little baby Democrats the message they missed in the 2010 election. I can't believe the way they've been behaving, since they lost the elections in 2010, just like little children.

I'm reading Haz's comment above about voting for Falk in an operation chaos to get the weaker candidate.

While I agree I'd like to see Walker run against Falk (she's the Gubenatorial version of Kloppenburg) I'm not sure too many GOP'ers should show up to vote for her.

If Falk were to get some huge vote total in the primary by virtue of 300,000 to 500,000 GOP votes, I'd guess the media would run with the narrative that Walker will be toast in the general election and it might dampen the enthusiasm of middle of the road non political types who are going to try and vote for the "likely winner" and thus might either stay home or actually not vote for Walker.

Hey, do you blame him if he wants to emulate that other W-state (the one with the REAL UW)? You guys have a lot of catching up to do in that regard.

Seriously, in Washington State it's legal to carry in the legislative offices and in the capitol building itself, and people can and do so all the time. The State Patrol is perfectly cool with this--in fact there was a hilarious incident last year where a large group of WA open-carry folks showed up to some firearm-related hearing, and the State Patrol officers had to straighten out the (east coast transplant) of WA Ceasefire as to its legality.

This has been legal here since, basically, forever, and no legislator has ever been shot by a legally-carrying citizen, or vice versa. But maybe (here comes the snark) we have a better class of individual here in WA than you do in WI.

"purplepenquin said...More Penguin bullshit. The fleebaggers were not filibustering.

I didn't say that the Dems in WI were filibustering..."

More bullshit. This is the common level of honesty you present here:

"purplepenquin said...Just 'cause there ain't a rule against it doesn't mean it ain't proper."

"Scott M said...Just 'cause there ain't a rule against it doesn't mean it ain't proper.

Here you're referring to the Democrat senators fleeing the state in order to buy their union buddies time, correct?"

"purplepenquin said...Here you're referring to the Democrat senators fleeing the state in order to buy their union buddies time, correct?

While I personally don't beleive that parliamentary procedures like quorum breaks and filibustering are improper (tho, I would rather see filibusterers having to actually speak for their time), I can understand why some folks would view those procedures as abusive."

You clearly did say the Dems were filibustering. You are liar. And a hypocrite.